Diving suit



DIVING SUIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed y' 5, 1966 GEORGE (LWISWELL, JR.

m T. N E v m ATTORNEYS u y 9, 8 s. c. WISWELL, JR 3,391,405

DIVING SUIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN'I'OR GEORGE C. WISW ELL, JR.

5 M 5 flaw.

ATTORNEYS 3,391,405 DIVING SUIT George C. Wiswell, Jr., 1014 Pequot Road, Southport, Conn. 06490 Filed May 5, 1966, Ser. No. 547,900 6 Claims. (Cl. 2-2.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A body enveloping diving suit of the wet suit type having flexible conduits for distributing warm water therethrough and provided with a manually operable control valve for regulating the flow of warm water pumped through the conduits.

The present invention relates to a diving suit of the wet suit" type, more particularly, to an arrangement for keeping the user of'such a suit warm by the circulation of warm water through tubes mounted on the suit and a zipper arrangement to facilitate putting on or taking off the suit.

One form of diving suit comprises a one piece garment which envelopes the body and is made from a flexible material such as foam neoprene. This diving suit is quite similar to that worn by sport divers and is termed a wet suit. The use of such diving suits presents two problems. One problem involves keeping the wearer of the diving suit warm when he is submerged in cold water for long periods of time. Various forms of insulation for such diving suits have been devised but to date they have been unsatisfactory.

Prior suits have consisted of a plurality of separate pieces such as the jacket, trousers, boots and hood. One of the problems with such diving suits is putting them on and taking them off. It is desirable that the suit be of one piece but then because it closely fits over the entire body including the head and feet, the conventional zipper arrangement down the front of the suit would not be altogether satisfactory.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a diving suit having a simple but effective arrangement for keeping the wearer warm.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a single piece diving suit having a slide fastener arrangement which greatly facilitates putting on and removing the suit.

In one aspect of the present invention the diving suit comprises a one-piece body-enveloping garment of flexible material which has neck, torso, arm and leg portions. A control unit is located on the outer surface of the torso portion and is connected through a flexible tube to a source of warm Water. A manifold is connected to the control unit and a pair of flexible conduits extend upwardly from the control unit over the chest of the torso portion and downwardly along the insides of the arm portions to terminate at the wrist. A second pair of flexible conduits extends downwardly from the control unit along the insides of the leg portions to terminate at the ankles. The ends of the conduits are open and are covered by flexible flaps fastened onto the garment to permit the discharge of water from the conduits into the interior of the suit.

Warm water is then pumped to the control unit and the wearer of the suit can regulate the quantity of Warm water which flows into the manifold and through the conduits until the temperature of the suit is comfortable to him. When only a portion of the warm water flows through the conduits, the remainder is discharged outwardly of the suit through an outlet in the control unit. Thus, there 'is no restriction to flow so that the flow is constant from United States Patent assures Patented July 9, 1968 the heater which will prevent extreme fluctuation in temperature.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, which are exemplary, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the diving suit of the present invention showing the diving suit on a person;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the diving suit as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the diving suit on a wearer with the zipper open to show the configuration of the zipper;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the control valve;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the control valve of FIG. 4 and taken along the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1 and showing the flap covering the conduit end on the leg;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6 showing the manner in which warm Water is introduced around the flap; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 88 of FIG. 1 and showing the flap covering the end of the conduit on the arm.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

As may best be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 the diving suit of the present invention comprises a one-piece body enveloping garment 10 made of a flexible material such as foam neoprene. The one-piece garment comprises a torso portion 11 having a neck portion 12 to which is attached a hood 13 for covering the entire head except for the face. There are also arm portions 14 and leg portions 15. The leg portions 15 terminate in boots 16 which completely enclose the feet of the wearer.

Carried on the lower front of the torso portion 11 is a control unit indicated generally at 17 and comprising a control valve 18 and a manifold 19'. Extending from the manifold 19 are conduits 20 and 21 which pass upwardly on the chest of the torso portion 11 and then curve outwardly to pass down along the insides of the arm portions 14 as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The major portions of the conduits '20 and 21 are sheathed as shown at 22 and 23 by a thin flexible covering which may be of the same material as the diving suit and which is bonded thereto. The ends of the conduits 24 open into the interior of the suit and are covered by triangular shaped flaps 25 which may be seen in FIG. 8. These flaps are also fastened to the arm portion of the garment, except along their bottom edges, so as to enable warm water to be discharged from the open end of the conduit into the suit.

Also extending from the manifold 19 is a second pair of conduits 2-6 and 27 which pass along the insides of the leg portions 15 to terminate at the angles thereof. The ends of these conduits indicated at 28 are alsoopen and are covered by flaps 29 which are similar to the flaps 25 described above. The major portions of the conduits 26 and 27 are similarly sheathed as shown at 30 by flexible covers bonded to the leg portions of the one-piece garment.

The control valve 18 is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and S and comprises a cylindrical valve body 31 having an inlet 32 at one end and outlets 33 and 34 in the cylindrical wall. Rotatably positioned within the valve body is a valve member 35 which has an axial passage 36 opening into a U-shaped passage 37. The U-shaped passage 37 is in the transverse plane of the valve member 35 and '13 is positioned so that its ends 33 and 39 are registrable with the valve outlets 33 and 34. The valve member 35 is pivoted through a limited range of movement by handle 4% which extends through a slot 41 in the valve body.

The inlet 32. of the control valve 18 is connected by a supply hose 42 of a 'butyl rubber which has a very low heat transfer and extends to a pump 43 schematically shown in FIG. 1. The inlet of the pump is connected to a storage tank 44 into which is discharged warm water through line 45 from a warm water heater 46.

The heater 46 may be a kerosene fired burner unit which heats the water as it flows through its coils with the warm water being discharged into the storage or volume tank 44. In the tank 44 the water is regulated and monitored with an immersed thermometer and then pumped on down to the diver by the pump 43 through supply hose 42.

Alternatively, other openings from the conduits can be provided. For example, openings can be made in the vicinity of 35' with flaps openings upwardly so as to carry warm water to the shoulder area. Openings also can be made in the vicinity of 36 and if desired, another conduit 36A can be led to the middle of the back.

To facilitate the diver getting into the diving suit a zipper configuration is provided which extends almost completely around the torso portion of the diving suit. As may be seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 the zipper or slide fastener is indicated at 47 and begins at a point 48 which is on the upper portion of one side of the chest of the torso portion 11. The zipper then continues downwardly to curve around the side of the torso portion at 51 and comes up on the other side of the chest of the torso portion to terminate at 52. The zipper path prefer- :ably is elliptical as it goes around to the back as seen in FIG. 2 so as to facilitate getting into the suit. Also, such an arrangement will stretch or fit various forms with greater ease.

Thus, when the Zipper is completely opened as may be seen in FIG. 3 the suit is effectively divided into upper and lower halves which are connected only across a narrow portion of the chest of the torso. In entering the suit the diver merely puts on the lower portion first, then thrusts his arms and head into the arm portions and hood respectively. The zipper is closed to form a closely fitting one-piece unit.

The water flowing through the conduits escapes from the suit through the zippered openings.

After the diver has entered the diving suit, warm water is then pumped to the diving suit from the heater and storage tank. The diver then regulates the degree of warmth in the diving suit by regulating the flow of warm water into the manifold and subsequently to the conduits on the suit. Since the warm water entering the control valve is at a constant temperature the degree of warmth is regulated 'by varying the quantity of water admitted into the conduits. The remaining water is dumped through the outlet 34.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, when the diver adjusts the control valve handle 40 the positions the valve member 35 within the valve body to control the proportion of the warm. water which is discharged through outlet 33 to the manifold and the proportion of warm water which is dumped from outlet 34. In operation, the water is continuously pumped through the conduits on the diving suit and discharged from the zipper opening to escape to the surface of the water in which the diver is operating.

Thus, it can be seen that the present invention provides a divers suit of the wet suit type which is provided with a simple yet effective arrangement for keeping the diver warm. Further the suit is provided with a zipper configuration which when open results in interconnected upper and lower halves of the divers suit. This zipper config- 4 uration greatly facilitates entering of the suit by the diver and similarly the removal of the suit.

It is to be understood that various details of construction and arrangement of parts can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A diving suit comprising a body-enveloping garment of flexible material having neck, torso, arm and leg portions, a control unit adjacent said suit and connected to a source of warm fiuid, first flexible conduit means extending from said control unit over the torso portion terminating adjacent the wrists thereof, second flexible conduit means extending from said control unit on the leg portions terminating adjacent the ankles thereof, the ends of said first and second conduit means being open into the suit and manually operable valve means on said control unit for regulating the flow of warm fiuid from said source to said conduits, said valve having connected to said source of warm fluid, a first outlet connected to said conduit means and a second outlet for discharge from the valve, and manually operable means on said valve for selectively connecting said inlet and said out lets whereby the quantity of fluid flowing into said conduit means is controlled.

2. A diving suit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and second conduit means have aperture means therein.

3. A diving suit as claimed in claim 1 with said valve comprising a cylindrical body having an inlet at one end and two outlets in the cylindrical wall thereof, a valve member rotatable in said body and having an axial passage communicating with said inlet, there being a substantially U-shaped passage in a transverse plane of said valve member and communicating with said axial passage, the ends of said U-shaped transverse passage being closer together than the outlets so that one end of the U- shaped passage will be blocked by the valve body when the other end registers with one outlet, and a handle on said valve member protruding outwardly of said valve body to enable manual positioning of said valve member to control the fiow of fluid from said outlets.

4. A diving suit as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising slide fastener means extending from one side of the chest of said torso portion downwardly and across the back and then upwardly to the other side of the chest of the torso portion.

5. A one-piece body-enveloping garment comprising flexible material providing neck, torso, arm and leg portions, and slide fastener means extending from one side of the chest of said torso portion downwardly and across the back and then upwardly to the other side of the chest "of the torso portion.

6. A one-piece body-enveloping garment as claimed in claim 5 wherein said slide fastener means has a continuous path downwardly from one side of the upper chest of the torso portion around one side in a generally elliptical path, across the back, and around the other side of the torso portion in a generally elliptical path and upwardly to the other side of the upper chest.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,657,396 11/1953 Klein et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 805,173 8/1936 France. 1,420,473 11/1965 France.

961,938 4/1957 Germany. 794,266 4/ 1958 Great Britain.

RICHARD J. SCANLAN, JR., Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,391,405 July 9, 1968 George C. wlswell, Jr.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 3, line 59, for "the" read he column 4, line 19, after "having" lnsert an inlet Signed and sealed this 8th day of October 1968:

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

